Ligue 1 Round 36 Results: Marseille make PSG wait for title

By Mohammed Ali

Elie Baup's men recorded a vital 2-1 win over Toulouse as Stade Brestois' relegation to the second tier was confirmed with a 2-0 loss to Sochaux

LILLE 3-0 STADE DE REIMS

Lille's faint Champions League hopes were boosted on Friday night with a comfortable 3-0 win over Stade de Reims at Grande Stade Lille Metropole.

Following on from their crushing 4-2 defeat to Toulouse, and the 3-3 draw against relegation strugglers Sochaux that preceded it, Rudi Garcia labelled the game "the biggest of the season" for his side.

And they didn't disappoint with Salomon Kalou firing in the opener after 20 minutes. Dimitri Payet made it 2-0 soon after the break with a fabulous effort from outside the area for his 12th league goal of the season.

Kalou made it 10 league goals in as many games with Lille's third as they kept up the pressure on Olympique Lyonnais.OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE 2-1 TOULOUSE

Marseille stretched their unbeaten run to 10 games with a 2-1 home win over Toulouse which delayed Paris Saint-Germain's title celebrations.

Defeat for Elie Baup's men would have ensured that the championship was heading to the capital regardless of PSG's result against Lyon on Sunday, but the Provence outfit claimed a win which all but sealed a place in next season's Champions League group stage.

But Andre Ayew broke the deadlock with a goal just before half-time, rising highest to head home from Mathieu Valbuena's cross. The Ghana international made it two, midway through the second half from a tap-in.

Eden Ben Basat ensured a nervy finish with a consolation goal, but OM held out to bring themselves closer to Europe's top competition.

AJACCIO 0-1 TROYESTroyes recorded their second win on the trot, a 1-0 triumph against Ajaccio, to move to a point off safety.

The game itself was largely a scrappy one, and the winning goal came late on, with Florian Jarjat diverting past Guillermo Ochoa to put Frederic Hantz's men ahead.

Ajaccio rallied, but they failed to find the equaliser. Paul Lasne's shot was fired inches wide, before Jarjat cleared a speculative effort from Mehdi Mostefa off the line.

Troyes sit in 19th place, a point off 17th place Nancy, with survival now within reach - something that was unthinkable in February.

BORDEAUX 3-2 NANCYBordeaux edged out Nancy 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at the Chaban Delmas.

Nancy had crawled out of the drop zone for the first time all season two weeks ago, but they were 2-0 down at half-time after a quick collapse allowed Andre Biyogho Poko and Henri Saivet both to find the net in the minutes leading up to the interval.

Nancy hit back, as has been their trademark in recent months, with Lossemy Karaboue reducing the arrears on 65 minutes, before Salif Sane equalised with 10 minutes to go after sustained pressure from the visitors.

But cruelly, Cheick Diabate regained Bordeaux's lead with five minutes left on the clock to leave Nancy hovering above the drop zone.

BASTIA 3-1 MONTPELLIER

Bastia confirmed their Ligue 1 status for another season with a surprise home win against champions Montpellier at Stade Armand Cesari.

Claudio Beauvue struck his first Ligue 1 goal in stunning fashion, sending a volley past Laurent Pionnier to put the hosts ahead, but they were pegged back when John Utaka picked up Marco Estrada's ball and fired an equaliser past Mickael Landreau.

Florian Thauvin - nominated for Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year by the UNFP earlier this week - assisted the second, with his deft cross picking out Anthony Modeste, who powerfully headed in to regain Bastia's lead.

The former Blackburn striker doubled his tally minutes later to ensure survival for the Corsican side, who are now safe on 43 points.

STADE BRESTOIS 0-2 SOCHAUX

Stade Brestois' relegation to Ligue 2 was confirmed with a 2-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers Sochaux on Saturday.

The hosts' 23rd defeat out of 36 games leaves them rooted to the bottom, eight points off Evian with just two games to go.

Sloan Privat bagged both goals to fire Eric Hely's men to victory, netting the opener just after half-time, converting from Jerome Roussillon's cross before sending a header past Alexis Thebaux to seal victory.

VALENCIENNES 4-1 STADE RENNAISValenciennes followed up their shock draw against PSG last weekend to thrash Coupe de la Ligue runners-up Rennes at Stade du Hainaut on Saturday.

The visitors have just won once since February, a run which has seen them slide from fourth place and chasing Champions League qualification, to 12th.

But it was they who opened the scoring through Burkina Faso winger Jonathan Pitroipa, before Maor Melikson equalised on 39 minutes.

The second half was dominated by the hosts, and Rennes were soon reduced to nine men, with red cards shown to Dimitri Foulquier and John Boye within six minutes of each other. With the advantage, Lindsay Rose finished neatly to put VAFC 2-1 up, before fine efforts from Kenny Lala and Jose Saez ensured a comfortable win.

LORIENT 3-1 SAINT-ETIENNELorient ended Saint-Etienne's unbeaten run in 2013, damaging their Champions League qualification hopes with a 3-1 win at Stade du Moustoir on Sunday.

The hosts, who are well regarded as Sainte's 'bogey' side, took the lead on 51 minutes through Kevin Monnet-Paquet, before Fabien Robert doubled the advantage minutes later.

Kurt Zouma headed in from a corner to put the Coupe de la Ligue winners back in contention, but Yann Jouffre's spectacular free-kick earned Christian Gourcuff's side victory.

EVIAN 4-0 NICEEvian thrashed high-fliers Nice 4-0 to move out of the relegation zone and leave the visitors' hopes of qualifying for the Champions League in tatters.

The hosts, who beat Lorient by the same scoreline on Wednesday to secure a place in their first-ever Coupe de France final, immediately hit the ground running, as Nice floundered.

Kevin Berigaud opened the scoring on 24 minutes, before Mohammed Rabiu doubled the lead four minutes into the second half.

Saber Khelifa, back from suspension following the PSG brawl two weeks ago added a third, but it is his second goal, Evian's fourth overall, which caught the attention.

Inside his own half, Khelifa lobbed David Ospina from an astounding 60 metres to cap off the most memorable of weeks for Evian, who now move out of the drop zone.